Sex Traffic

I have to apologize to you all if my English is bad. I will try to be the most understandable then ever. I just finished with watching the first part of this movie. No movie left such a powerful impression on me as this one. I was crying like a baby. And those tears were not the result of happiness. I do not want to talk about production. That is not important. Important is the thing that there are some people, girls, and they are just like Lena and Vara, but not in the movie yet in real life. How we could help them? What can we do for not happening these things to some girl? It is awful...really awful. And I am ashamed for being a human!

After seeing this 2 parter on CBC this weekend, I must confess complete and utter ignorance of this issue. For a while I thought we had learned from the mistakes of the past, only to find we in the 21st Century are no different from those of the 17th, 18th, 19th and 20th centuries in regard to the buying and selling of human flesh.

Who are buying these women ? What makes this trade work ? Is it us men ? Is it our partners for withholding sex to get what they want ? What a screwed up world we live in. These are the questions I am faced with after seeing this program.

This mini series portrays the sex slave industry is its gory details. Two young sisters, in an effort for a better life, are sold and moved through eastern to western Europe and eventually find themselves in London. How they make the journey is by the far the most scariest thing a human could ever experience.

My one beef is that the CBC left in the violence, rape scenes and beatings and edited out the F word every time - bizarre.

It's easy to understand why someone who is starving and homeless might risk everything in search of a better life abroad. But there are countries in which, although they are poorer than the affluent west, people can get by. So why do their citizens endure the most appalling hardship as economic migrants and illegal immigrants? Blame it on the grotesque disparities in exchange rates, which mean that a year's savings in Britain might be a lifetime's in Moldova; but blame it also on our most corrosive export, the myth that sustains our own societies, that man can control his own destiny, that we can, that we must, always seek to make something more of our lives. The irony is that the pursuit of this dream can take all of us only further away from what matters: a place in which, and people with whom, we can be at home.

The subject matter of migration has been excellently served in recent years, through the wonderful Channel Four documentary, 'The Last Peasants', and through Michael Winterbottom's sublime film, 'In This World'. 'Sex Traffic' completes a noble trilogy, with its harrowing but sadly convincing script, fine direction and stunning performances from its leads: British actor John Simm and, in two more demanding roles, a brilliant pair of young Romanian actresses, Anamaria Varince and Maria Popistasu. Serious but also dramatic, this is an outstanding mini-series. I have only two relatively minor quibbles: the journalistic, pseudo-documentary feel is slightly overdone, especially in episode one (the story doesn't need such heavy-handed treatment); and the strange way the film stigmatises an American multinational company. It's perfectly reasonable to believe that the power of such companies is one the main causes of the economic imbalances that fundamentally drive migration; but this company is merely guilty of covering up the fact that some of its employees have done bad things (but of course, it's easier to blame a bogeyman than it is to blame ourselves, and our own outrageous share of the global wealth). Don't let these matters put you off watching one of the most outstanding, emotional, and important, dramas of the year.

I came across this film while flicking through the TV channels one late evening. Funnily enough, my wife and I thought that we might have a night of romance before watching this film. However, after nearly thirty minutes of watching the terror unleashed on the women in this film, any thoughts of sex quickly disappeared from our minds. The film portrayed the truly tragic story of young east European women sold into the sex trade. After living in England for many years, there were some chilling reminders for me, such as the brothel in a normal residential street, and the east European gangs that operate in London's underground stations - all of which I have seen with my own eyes! Perhaps the most terrifying detail in this film was the level of sophistication of the gangs, resident in almost every European country, with far reaching contacts in the community. I would advise everyone to watch this film, as it is chilling reminder of the level of double standards in this world, and how corporations in war torn countries operate with total impunity, under the premise of "we're helping them with their reconstruction".

I guess we just haven't been out of our caves long enough if these depraved specimens of human kind still walk among us. Whereas I could happily watch the traffickers neck deep in an ant nest there was one aspect that seemed a little odd. The price paid for these women seemed way low considering the ROI. I am naive enough to hope for some black ops assassin squad to clean up some of these slavers and at least put some mortal fear into the rest. Shame is that, as usual, those in power are usually enmeshed in this disgusting tapestry. An excellent film that is unfortunately wasted on the likes of us. We will be appalled then dismayed to the point of tears then look for the nearest comedy.